Corrections? Comments? Please feel free to express your opinions of the site, or correct me regarding any inaccuracies or broken links.  If I don't fix the problem, please tell me again!  This is a large site and it's hard to keep track of all its sections.

Drawing Requests: Let me know if you'd like to see new locomotives or rolling stock in the drawings, or updated versions of old drawings.  I try to fill out requests on a regular basis.  I will not take payments for requests, but neither will I guarantee their completion.

Image Use: Photos and drawings on this site have been displayed on many other websites.  Please email me for permission to do so.  Terms of use of the drawings are described at the bottom of the Drawings page.

Contributions: I do not post image contributions any more, since I was formerly unable to keep up with updates on the rest of the site.  Feel free to send images or links nonetheless--I won't post images, but I do enjoy seeing them!
.

Full Name: Michael John Eby (But call me Mike or Michael)
Date of birth: January 20, 1986 (OK, now you know I'm not elderly)
Home: North Hatley, Quebec, Canada.  Was in Waterville, Quebec (7 minutes away) until January 2008.  1 1/2 hours due East of Montreal.  Less than 10 minutes away from both the MMA and SLR rail lines.
Hobbies: Trainspotting, train photographing, train recording, train drawing, HO train modeling...  Also, biking/enjoying the outdoors, renovations and anything relating to mechanical/electrical things (wood construction, wiring).
Occupations:
-Currently (2007-) in Environmental Studies at Bishop's University (Lennoxville, QC)
-Previously (2005-2007) in Mechanical Engineering at the Université de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke, QC)
-Webmaster and sound technician (on a volunteer basis) for Plymouth-Trinity United Church.
What's good:
-Cars--especially Wintergreen Metallic AWD 1996 Subaru Legacy L wagons
        ...Better-looking in deep snow
-Athearn models (especially when tweaked)
-holidays (especially long ones)
-snow storms (as long as they're between November and March)
-cats (especially ones named Taia and Ollie)
-Thornbury (the tune), Widor Toccata

My views about locomotives: I used to be unquestionably pro-EMD and anti-GE, but that has levelled off in recent years to the point where my bias is more related to real-world performance of individual models.  I see a manufacturer monopoly as both highly detrimental to the industry and highly unlikely.  I think that tired, old locomotives that railroads hate and railfans love should be retired, but not immediately scrapped and not withheld from preservation.  From a purely railfanning perspective, I'm partial to any locomotive that a) has "-2W" or "-2LW" at the end of the model name or b) sounds good in full throttle.

My views about railroads: Class-I railroads do the heavy hauling, but I don't really like them.  Small railroads have so much more personality--I can't help but smile when I think of things like horn concerts or cab rides I've had from small railroads.  My favourite railroad has to be the St. Lawrence & Atlantic, for its railfan-friendliness but also for the way it runs as a railroad.  No railroad has gone down so far in my esteem as the Canadian National (I refuse to disregard their full name).   Once my favourite railroad, [begin rant] CN has become (in my view) an anonymous international powerhouse that runs prairie locomotives in the mountains, scraps anything with a minor failure that doesn't say "IC" on it (including historic locomotives held for preservation), ignores long-standing operational practices of former railroads in difficult terrain, holds as little regard to maintenance and safety as possible and attempts to erase its rich heritage [end rant].

My views about railfanning: I've learned from experience not to miss any opportunities to catch rare or unusual equipment, and not to ignore the mundane.  I don't trespass.  I rarely drive in excess of 20 km to railfan--I only do so if a) it's a definite attraction (like a museum) or b) the trip is for another reason as well.

Site Name: Where does the name "Trainiax" come from?  In the very early stages of the site (back in 2000 or so) it was simply called "Michael Eby's Train Homepage".  I was looking for something original, but couldn't think of anything.  It was suggested to me at the time that the name should have something to do with the word "Trainiac" which is a (somewhat) local term used to describe a railfan such as myself.  So... I named the webpage after the people it's designed for ("Trainiacs") replace the "cs" with an "x" and presto! "Trainiax".
.